Instead of continuing to update the original post on Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of what what we learn today was a Navy SEALs team, not CIA, yesterday, I thought I’d start a second thread.
Former Governor Sarah Palin in a statement late last night said:
Americans tonight are united in celebration and gratitude. God bless all the brave men and women in our military and our intelligence services who contributed to carrying out the successful mission to bring Bin Laden to justice and who laid the groundwork over the years to make this victory possible. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of these brave Americans who relentlessly hunted down our enemy.
This is a victory for the American people, for the victims who were heartlessly murdered on September 11 and in Al Qaeda’s other numerous attacks, and for all the peace-loving people of the world.
May God bless our troops and our intelligence services, and God bless America!
Apparently bin Laden has been buried at sea, and the Obama administration is debating whether or not they should release the photo of his corpse. I understand the reluctance to do that, but if they don’t it’ll cast doubt on this news. I can’t imagine they would want that as this is a huge victory for his administration.
Also out today is the news this team was under orders to kill, not capture bin Laden. They also ran two rehearsals and President Obama watched the raid on the compound from the situation room. Also it will be interesting to see what the fallout from this will be in the Arab world and in Pakistan where Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is accusing the U.S. of violating Pakistani sovereignty (if he’d done his job though we wouldn’t have had to).
More updates likely to come late this afternoon/evening.
Update: Some more statements from prospective presidential candidates:
Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty:
This is terrific news for freedom and justice. In the hours after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush promised that America would bring Osama bin Laden to justice — and we did.
I want to congratulate America’s armed forces and President Obama for a job well done. Let history show that the perseverance of the U.S. military and the American people never wavered.
America will never shrink from the fight and ultimately those who seek to harm us face only defeat.
Today, justice is done, but the fight against radical Islamic terrorism is not yet over.
Donald Trump:
I want to personally congratulate President Obama and the men and women of the Armed Forces for a job well done.
I am so proud to see Americans standing shoulder to shoulder, waving the American flag in celebration of this great victory.
We should spend the next several days not debating party politics, but in remembrance of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and those currently fighting for our freedom.
God Bless America!
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney:
This is a great victory for lovers of freedom and justice everywhere.
Congratulations to our intelligence community, our military and the president.
My thoughts are with the families of Osama bin Laden’s many thousands of victims, and the brave servicemen and women who have laid down their lives in pursuit of this murderous terrorist.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN):
I want to express my deepest gratitude to the men and women of the U.S. military and intelligence community.
Their persistence and dedicated service has yielded success in a mission that has gripped our nation since the terrible events of 9/11.
Tonight’s news does not bring back the lives of the thousands of innocent people who were killed that day by Osama bin Laden’s horrific plan, and it does not end the threat posed by terrorists, but it is my hope that this is the beginning of the end of Sharia-compliant terrorism.
Then two more members of Iowa’s Congressional Delegation spoke out on the matter. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) in a formal statement:
Just a few months short of the 10th anniversary of the worst attack in our nation’s history, U.S. forces brought to justice the world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. This victory is a testament to the quality of our intelligence service and the courage and precision of the Navy SEALs. I commend the Obama Administration and thank the servicemen and women who carried out this operation.
Congressman Steve King (R-IA) didn’t release a formal statement, but he did make a couple of slightly controversial remarks via Twitter, one dealing with waterboarding since it was revealed that some of the intel came from Gitmo, “ObL "Sealed" into eternal damnation. Intel from KSM in Gitmo:-) "It feels like the entire country won the World Series," Bill Hemmer-FOX…. Wonder what President Obama thinks of water boarding now?”